We trusted him, but we did not hope for such a big victory, which obviously imposes serious tasks on the ruling party in the times that are ahead of us and seem quite confusing.
The government is the government of the whole country, including those who voted against it, so I think it would be worthwhile to make gestures towards the opposition voters, because if you think about it, they are our neighbors, perhaps our children, our grandchildren, but in any case a significant part of the country's population . Let us make a distinction between the party coalition and party leaders, who are unfortunately (and contrary to reality) called left-wing, and the Hungarian citizens who consider themselves left-wing and therefore vote for them. I am not referring to gestures of a material nature, since in many of its economic and social political measures the government was more left-wing than the parties that call themselves left-wing, but rather to good words towards the voters of the losing side.
A two-thirds victory can give so much self-confidence that even some of the opposition's criticisms or proposals could be safely considered. I consider the most important of these to be those related to economic balance. The balance of public finances deteriorates significantly, which can trigger dangerous inflationary processes. However, I would like to draw attention to the deficit of the balance of payments, which has been deteriorating for years and will be close to five billion euros in 2021. As an employee of the National Planning Office, I lived through and was annoyed by the debt process of the 1970s, when, due to a few years' delay in intervention, the country became hopelessly indebted. Of the $14.9 billion in debt outstanding on December 31, 1989, only $1.2 billion was actually used, the rest accrued interest and exchange losses. A repetition of this must be avoided and action must be taken now, not when the processes become uncontrollable.
Changing the flat-rate personal income tax to progressive income taxation can be of great help in creating a balance. At the time, there was a debate about this in Fidesz, traces of which can still be found on the Internet and on YouTube to this day. The supporters of the flat tax won. This victory took HUF 400-600 billion (about half of the total health or education expenses) out of the budget and gave it to those who earn the most. The explanation was the creation of a strong middle class.
Hopefully, this strong middle class has already been created in the past decade, and thus can contribute (and obviously wants to as a good patriot) to the creation of a balanced situation in the form of a progressive tax system. Otherwise, single-rate personal income tax is typically characteristic of the neo-capitalist ex-socialist camp, but several countries (Russia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia) are already taxing personal income progressively again.
In Western Europe, the top rate of personal income tax is 40-50, in the United States it is 37 percent, but there it was 70 percent before the neoliberal era. Now, the large-scale victory and the uncertain external circumstances have created a psychological situation where this step can be taken without political disadvantages.
The effects of Covid-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian war so far and expected in the future for Europe have called into question the perception of globalization so far. The existence of an economic system based on capital concentration growing beyond all borders, cheap transport costs and low wages in less developed countries has been questioned. The global economy undoubtedly has significant advantages: cheap goods, free movement of capital, labor and, above all, the rapid spread of advanced technology. At the same time, there are considerable disadvantages, above all the excessive exposure to external changes and the resulting uncertainty. and in the event of an unfavorable external situation, a significant economic downturn and possible indebtedness.
Hungary's international exposure is excessive, and it is definitely justified to create an economic structure that can function at a lower level even in the event of significant external disturbances, but without becoming indebted. Especially in the electricity supply, we need to not be dependent on the European energy market, which is becoming chaotic even without war due to unfulfillable climate goals. Instead of the planned 6,000 MW of solar energy (which would be functional if the same number of gas power plants were built in case of cloudy weather or other problems, for example at night), the goal could be the cooperative production of small nuclear power plants.
Neighboring countries such as Romania and Slovakia are already thinking about this. According to reports, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis discussed cooperation in the construction of small-scale modular nuclear reactors during his meeting with US special envoy for climate change John Kerry. For us, it would probably be easiest if we ordered one from the little Li's corner juicer shop, because China already manufactures them (Linglong One), but considering the impending war with East Asia (see Orwell: 1984), it would still be better if a European (for example, French) cooperation we would look after it.
Stronger protection of the country from external influences is also very important because Brussels perceives the election of Orbán for the fourth time as a declaration of war, and it is not wrong, it is time to take up the fight against the destroyers of historic Europe.
John Schindler, a former employee of the American National Security Agency, sees that in Europe and America the cultural left and the corporate right have united against nation states.
This manifests itself, for example, with regard to illegal immigration, which - to quote Schindler: "the cultural left supports because it gradually eradicates the traditional culture they despise, while the big-capitalist right supports it because of cheap labor." According to independent experts, at least independent of European affairs, the fight is not between some kind of traditional right and left, not between supporters of democracy and anti-democratic forces, and not even around the rule of law, but rather a supranational power structure (which is often called the background power ) and a political force that wants to protect Europe's traditional values, nation-states, and Christian values, which is represented today at the governmental level in Poland and Hungary.
In Brussels, they probably don't know Madách's The Tragedy of Man, but they certainly perceive its lines: "And a foot of land is enough for me, / Where denial sets foot, / It will turn your world upside down." Poland and, now confirmed with a two-thirds majority, Hungary is the land where denial, the destruction of Europe, the destruction of traditional European culture, traditional European values and history has set foot, but overthrowing the world of Brussels still requires a lot of effort.
Above all, to have a clear concept of what we want. There is a Chinese proverb that I often quote, which says that if you want to defeat the tiger, you must first defeat it in theory. The current anti-European, anti-nation-state political force in Brussels had and still has theoretical foundations: the teaching of the Frankfurt school, which wants to deprive Europe of its cultural roots, or the "open society" proposed by Karl Popper (and sponsored by György Soros). , which questions the existence of nation-states.
Apart from the book The Frankfurt School published in 1977 by a Russian author named Yuri Davidov, I have not seen a published critique of these theories. Of course, this may be my fault, but if it is, it is time to give an answer to these theories. In addition to this, we must develop our own concept, especially regarding European cooperation, one in which post-war Ukraine and Turkey, which has already been "prepared" for forty years, can also participate. This requires a solution similar to the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which is essentially an economic cooperation without political-ideological coercive instruments.
Finally, even the Western press admits that the two-thirds victory is a strong mandate, according to an article published in the Financial Times: "This landslide victory will now force the EU to accept this new status quo: yes, it has authoritarian member states .” We would modify this in such a way that Brussels must accept that it also has member states that protect Europe's cultural roots, and protect Europe's cultural and national diversity.
Author: Károly Lóránt, economist, advisor to the National Forum
Source: Magyar Hírlap
Photo: 2022plus
